WWE Tough Enough

Last weekend I was flicking through the channels when I came across episode one of the new season of WWE Tough Enough. From what I saw I am still undecided on whether I like the show or not.For those who don’t know, Tough Enough is a reality show in which rookies learn the ropes of becoming a wrestler in the hopes of winning a WWE contract. It was quite popular in the early 2000s but has not been on air for the last few years. Some of the Tough Enough alumni have wrestled on both Smackdown and Raw but I think the only ones who have had any lasting success are The Miz and John Morrison.

One of the problems I have is with one of the Tough Enough trainers and just want to know just why he was chosen for this job. Perhaps just by mentioning who the trainers are you can spot the odd one out.

Stone Cold Steve Austin is a legend of the square circle. He’s been King of the Ring, won multiple WWE Championships and won the Royal Rumble three times. He was also a WCW TV and US champion and has held the tag team titles in both promotions several times.

Bill De Mott is most famous as Hugh Morris in WCW in the 1990s although his gimmick and name changed in the dying days of WCW to General Hugh G. Rection. I think he may have won the WCW US Title but I always remember him as someone who never really got over. He was OK in the ring but had nowhere near the talent of others in WCW at the time such as Chris Jericho, He who must not be named, Rey Mysterio Jr. or Eddie Guerrero. Seeing his training technique that he uses on the rookies reminds me of Sgt Craig Pittman who worked as the head trainer of WCW’s Powerplant in the 90s (but never got himself over as a wrestler whenever he appeared on WCW TV!)

The most surreal moment of the show came when during the elimination Austin asked contestant Arianne what her favorite match is.

I have no doubt that the Melina vs Alicia Fox match was a five star classic, right up there with all the Flair/Steamboat, Shawn/Undertaker, Savage Steamboat etc matches, except it was probably a horrible divas match that lasted two minutes. The sad thing is that even though she’s been eliminated Arianne still looks like getting a WWE contract.

It shows what a joke women’s wrestling is that someone who has probably only seen one wrestling match in their life is hired to be a wrestler based solely on their looks. Fortunately this looks likely to change very soon.

* Edit – Apparently De Mott trained both Miz and Morrison, so maybe I was a bit harsh on him.